Hundreds of Haitians in Tijuana preparing to present themselves to U.S. officials at the San Ysidro Port of Entry face an unpleasant surprise: the probability of detention — and eventual deportation to their impoverished country — under a new policy announced this week by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

A day after the changes went into effect, the Haitian men who gathered in small groups on Friday morning outside the Desayunador Salesiano Padre Chava, a shelter and soup kitchen, said they had heard nothing, and asked anxiously for details.

“Did Obama’s party decide this? He has a generous heart, he cannot deport us to our country, ” added Derisseau, who hopes to join his sister in Boston.

Announced Thursday by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, the changes entail the resumption of regular, non-criminal deportations to Haiti, more than six years after these were suspended on the heels of the country’s 2010 earthquake.

“The situation in Haiti has improved sufficiently to permit the U.S. government to remove Haitian nationals on a more regular basis,” Johnson said in a statement.

Haitians without visas now face the same treatment as most foreigners who show up at the border without permission to enter the United States: detention and deportation, unless they express fear of persecution upon being sent back.

In congressional testimony on Thursday in Washington, D.C., the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Sarah Saldaña, called it “an emergency situation,” and said she had learned of “40,000 Haitians who are en route to the United States.”

Most of the Haitians in Tijuana have come by land from Brazil, where they moved after the 2010 earthquake to find work, but found survival increasingly difficult as the South American country has suffered a severe economic downturn.

The Haitians usually obtain safe passage through Mexico with a document called “oficio de salida” that allows them in the country for a limited period, usually about 30 days, enough time to make it to the U.S. border.

Until this week’s changes, most Haitians presenting themselves at the San Diego border were allowed into the United States under humanitarian parole, and generally released with notices to appear before an immigration court at a later date.

On Thursday, the reception changed dramatically, as undocumented Haitians became subject to a fast-track process called Expedited Removal that entails detention.

It is unclear how soon the newly announced routine, non-criminal deportations to Haiti would take place, said Faye Hipsman, an analyst with the Washington, D.C.-based Migration Policy Institute.

“The big factor is cooperation with Haiti,” Hipsman said. “My understanding is that this was a unilateral decision made by DHS,” she said, adding that the Haitian government has yet to publicly respond.

Many of the Haitians who have crossed to San Diego in recent months have been making their way to established Haitian communities in New York City and Miami, where activists have been closely following news of the Haitians in Tijuana. Marleine Bastien, executive director of Haitian Women of Miami, was part of a group that traveled to border to meet with Haitians in Tijuana and San Diego.

“We’re talking about people who have been on a three and four month journey, who have been subjected to the worst kind of abuse, physical, sexual abuse,” said Bastien, who has been collaborating with members of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium.

With the changes in policy, “first of all they need to apprised of their rights,” Bastien said. “They have the basic rights of due process.”

A Mexican immigration official estimated earlier this week that 800 to 1,110 Haitians are currently in Baja California preparing to cross to the United States, mostly through San Ysidro but with a smaller number through Calexico. But with the prospect of deportation, some may choose not to show up at the border on their appointed day, migrant advocates said.

With the new policy, “I would guess most Haitians would not wish to be detained,” and could end up stranded at the border, said Steve Forester, immigration policy coordinator at the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti. The country “is in no condition, post earthquake and given extremely difficult economic and other conditions there to be receiving an influx of people,” he said.

“I think they’re probably not going to stay in Mexico,” said Maureen Meyer, senior associate for Mexico and migrant rights at the Washington Office on Latin America. “What they may end up doing is what Central Americans do, try to avoid detection and get into the United States regardless.”

Tijuana government officials have worked to distance themselves from the situation, saying that while the situation is cause for concern, the Haitian migrant issue is a federal matter, not a municipal one. Requests for interviews went unanswered this week.

As they have attempted to serve the rising numbers of Haitian migrants, Tijuana’s four main shelters have found themselves overwhelmed. Of 2,823 people receiving shelter at the Padre Chava center since May 27, a total of 1,831 have been Haitians, the center reported Friday.

News of the new policy had yet to fully hit on Friday morning among the Haitians staying at the shelter. And the few who had an inkling of the changes remained undeterred, said Margarita Andonaegui, the shelter’s administrator.

“Up to now, everyone has decided to go ahead,” and keep their appointments with U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. “Only one person asked me, ‘What do you recommend?’”